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1982 AIGA MEDAL
The Vignellis, Massimo and Lella, stand at the peak of their
profession. During the past 20 years, their design output has been
prodigious in quantity, far-ranging in media and scope and
consistent in excellence. Equally important is the influence they
have had and the difference they have made. Their work has led by
example. They have contributed to design as individuals. For their
accomplishments, Massimo and Lella Vignelli have been chosen to
receive the AIGA Gold Medal for 1982—the sixty-second such award in
a distinguished series that began in 1920.
Upon the occasion of the major retrospective of the Vignellis'
work exhibited at Parsons in 1980, The New York Times
critic Paul Goldberger characterized them as “total designers.”
They and their office have indeed done it all: industrial and
product design, graphic design, book design, magazine and newspaper
design, packaging design, interior and exhibit design, furniture
design. Massimo and Lella work together in two ways: he
concentrates on what they call the “2D”; she handles the “3D”. He's
the visionary: “I talk of feelings, possibilities, what a design
could be.” She the realist: “I think of feasibility,
planning, what a design can be.”
The Vignellis were both born and educated in the industrial,
more-European north of Italy, he in Milan and she in Udine, 90
miles away. Massimo's passion was “2D”—graphic design; Lella's
family tradition and training were “3D”—architecture. They met at
an architects' convention and were married in 1957. Three years
later, they opened their first “office of design and architecture”
in Milan and designed for Pirelli, Rank Xerox, Olivetti and other
design-conscious European firms. But their fascination with the
United States, which took root during three years spent here after
they were married, eventually grew strong enough to lure them away
from Italy permanently. “There is diversity here, and energy, and
possibility,” recalls Massimo, “and the need for design.” He
cofounded Unimark in 1964, which ballooned and collapsed as the
corporate identification boom of the late 1960s hyperventilated,
then ran out of breath. In 1972, their present office was formed:
Vignelli Associates for two-dimensional design, Vignelli Designs
for furniture, objects, exhibitions and interiors.
Not only do the Vignellis design exceeding well, they also
think about design. It is not enough that something—a
chair, an exhibition, a book, a magazine—looks good and is well
designed. The “why” and the “how,” the very process of
design itself, must be equally evident and quite beyond the tyranny
of individual taste.
“There are three investigations in design,” says Massimo. “The
first is the search for structure. Its reward is
discipline. The second is the search for specificity. This
yields appropriateness. Finally, we search for fun, and we
create ambiguity.”
Vignelli design, in both three dimensions and two, is highly
architectural in character. Massimo's posters, publications and
graphic designs seem to be built in stories, separated by the
now-familiar, bold, horizontal rules. Basic geometry is respected.
The investigative design process moves from the inside out: “The
correct shape is the shape of the object's meaning.” The
Vignelli commitment to the correctness of a design has taken their
work beyond the mechanical exercise of devising a form best suited
to a given function. They've always understood that design itself,
in the abstract, could and should be an integral part of function.
More than a process and a result, design—good design—is an
imperative. “Everything has its own order,” they've said. “You
can't take a piece of music and scramble the notes. You can't take
a piece of writing and scramble the words. You can't take a space
and scramble the chairs around.”
Both in the example set by their work and by their personal
commitment of time and energy, design has no advocates more
passionate or effective. Both teach, write, lecture, serve on
juries and boards, contribute their talent and cast to worthy
causes. Unabashedly urban and urbane, their participation in the
world of design is enthusiastic, inquiring, generous. The Vignellis
are true believers: “When we were young and naïve, we thought we
could transform society by providing a better, more designed
environment. Naturally, we found that this was not possible. Now,
we think more realistically: we see a choice between good design
and poor or nondesign. Every society gets the design it deserves.
It is our duty to develop a professional attitude in raising the
standard of design.”
That sounds serious, and the Vignellis are serious about design.
But it is seriousness of purpose conveyed most often through
exuberance. When either Massimo or Lella says the word “design,” it
is pronounced with a capital “d”: “Design.” As individuals and
professionals, their commitment to design and their accomplishments
in design have rewarded them well. The Vignelli office continues to
thrive and assignments come from an ever more diverse range of
clients. Graduates of their firm have set out on their own and
established well-respected practices. Only a few of the best and
brightest are hired out of the schools each year. Their calendars
are crammed; their pace formidable.
“The reward?” asks Massimo, paraphrasing the question. “Why, the
reward is to do all this!”
Originally published in AIGA Graphic Design 4, eds. David R.
Brown, Wylie Davis, Rose DeNeve. Copyright 1983 by AIGA
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